The big fridge

Have you ever wondered why Germans have such small fridges? We did! I think we have worked it out. For 4 months of the year your balcony acts as a big fridge. We are having some friends over for lunch and, as is normal for this time of year, all the beer and soft drink is out on the terrace getting down to drinking temperature. Here are a few bottles stuck in the 'freezer section' to get us started whilst the ones in the crate cool down. Problems come when you leave it overnight and everything freezes in -5 degrees... glass bottles don't like this much, learnt from personal experience. The solution is to drink all the beer before it freezes.

A little bit of snow!

We woke up to snow this morning. It has been warm here so far this Winter, and finally this week the temperatures have dropped. Wednesday it did not get above 0 degrees until after lunch time! 

Not enough for snowmen yet!

The Reading Bug

This is how we find the kids some nights, on either of their beds together, with their heads stuck in books.

I love standing in the doorway and just watching them read, without them knowing I are there. When they read something funny, they laugh out loudly, and tell each other what they have read. 

I think we may be in the running as Amazon.de's biggest customer.  Luckily they have a huge English book selection. Once you spend 20 Euros, you get your postage free, very easy to manage! The books take 1-3 weeks to arrive, but we can cope with that! The difficulty is keeping up the supply.. 

This is the problem with living in a country not of your native language. Sadly, the local library is not an option. I have been speaking to the Librarians at school, and asked them to help the boys choose novels to read. A lot of the books in our school library are by English authors, who we are not familiar with, and also quite dated in the language, eg. Enid Bylton, Dick King Smith. The librarians have been great, in helping both boys pick suitable books to read at home.

Alexander is enjoying the Lemony Snicket books, and anything by Roald Dahl. Cameron is reading all the Geronimo Stilton Books.

Sunrise

This was what we woke up to this morning. This photo does not really do the skyline any justice to the colours, but it was gorgeous. Still no snow yet!

Hurricane Kryill

From many sources (friends, work, school) we received news that a hurricane was sweeping across Europe, and was on track for Berlin! All the Berliners went into 'panic' mode, with schools, government offices and the like closing early. For us the school told us the school cancelled afternoon clubs, and asked if possible to collect your kids earlier from school. The winds are expected to reach Berlin between 3 and 4pm (The boys get off the school bus at about 3.40!)

We didn't see much, it was dark by 4pm, but even with double glazed windows we could hear the wind howling during the night. However, apart from the lights dimming a few times, we were quite snug. When we woke in the morning, one of the large fir trees had uprooted and fallen over in the garden. We were very lucky when you consider the storm killed 45 people across Europe.

A tree in Sonia's backyard fell and broke her satellite dish...no Uk TV for them until it is fixed. (Lucky she has borrowed some of my DVD's to keep her going). Now the boys will have no excuse not to study for those exams ("Just want to stop and watch the Rugby...")

New Year Day 2007, Ost See

New years morning was quiet, but we hit the swimming complex again after lunch. This time Cameron had a try on the waterslides with Nicole, and then with me. Alexander had lots more goes and seems to be the one who is willing to give 'scary' things a try first. There was a very steep slide into the big pool that he just took himself on - it was really fast and he had a great time. 

Afterwards, the guard told me that he was too young to ride it alone, not that Alexander minded! Gordon, Alan, Stuart James and I had a bit of a hit at tennis, whilst the girls and the kids rested up after New Years Eve. We had an earlier dinner and a few more beers, and got us all into bed at a reasonable time in preparation for our departure the next day.

Packing up was a breeze and checkout was simply a matter of dropping off the key. We were once again in taxis and onto the train. Once again, the Ramsay's were in a different wagon to Hamburg, but in the next compartment from Hamburg to Berlin.

On the first train, the guy across the isle had done the 'sprawl' - taking up two seats, ipod on, and pretending to be asleep so no-one would sit next to him. This young army guy had to sit on the step in between wagons because of this. I checked it out and told the young guy the seat was free, and for 1 and 1/2 hours would be more comfortable than sitting in front of the toilets. He tried his luck and the 'sprawler' begrudgingly made room. The young guy was very appreciative! 

On the second leg, all the kids piled into the Ramsay's compartment, and Sonia came and joined us for some peace and quiet, and fresh air. We got off the train at Spandau, into a taxi, and home for 5 loads of washing.